The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic is just around the corner — this Saturday, to be exact — and Inside Lacrosse is rolling out a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes and exclusive Face-Off Classic content leading up to the big day. Georgetown attackman David Shriver continues our player blogs for the week. Stay tuned for more.

Hoya Doing?

For any team on Georgetown’s campus, the Syracuse game is always circled as one of those big games that occur throughout the season. Obviously for our lacrosse team, this is no different as it is a big game not only because of their recent success, but also for the fact that it is a Big East conference game. The opportunity to play in the greatest city and stadium in the country (I am a little biased obviously) will add to the enjoyment of playing against Syracuse.

Going into this game, we had a tough spring break road trip splitting two games, winning at St. John’s then falling to Harvard in a shootout. When looking back at the road trip, we need to get better in many areas of the game. We have put an added emphasis on the little things the past two days in practice. Simple things as catching and throwing have been harped on and frankly for us, getting back to the fundamentals is key for our team and its success going forward. One thing that this team has and will never lose is the effort. This will be a staple of this team the whole year and playing on a team with a group who never gives up and fights for 60 minutes is something that has been pretty special. I love this group of guys and would never trade my experiences with any of them for anything in the world. They have been another family to me, and I am sure everyone on them would say that exact same thing.

Looking to Saturday for myself and the other guys from the Baltimore area, it is an exciting opportunity to come home and play in front of family and friends. Anytime we have a game in Baltimore it is pretty special, but frankly being able to play at M&T Bank Stadium is a tremendous privilege and one that I know I will never forget. I have been an avid Ravens fan since they moved to town and have been to most every home game since then. It is a stadium I know very well as a fan and also from playing two high school games there. I could not be more excited to again walk the same tunnels and play on the same fields as such Baltimore greats like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.

For us as a team, we know the task at hand; we have an opportunity to not only play a conference opponent, but also the number one team in the country. We are not going to be too enamored with the big stage as we have already had experience playing in a NFL stadium in Jacksonville. It is important for our team to maintain focus throughout the game and scrap for 60 minutes to try and get a win. It also is very important for us to have fun, as it truly is a blessing to be able to do what we do on Saturdays. So many people would love to be in our shoes and I know everyone appreciates the chance we have to compete at this level while still enjoying it. I think that this team does a good job of being loose, having fun and staying in the moment. On Saturday we want to give it our all for 60 minutes and let the chips fall where they may, hopefully with the good guys on top.

We obviously appreciate Inside Lacrosse, the Baltimore Ravens, and all the sponsors for giving us the chance to play in such a great event. We hope to see all of you at the game on Saturday; it should be a fun one.